The human car crash of light entertainment: an interview with Nick Helm

The human car crash of light entertainment: an interview with Nick Helm

06 July, 2011
by: Emma

Dubbed the 'breakthrough act' of last year’s Edinburgh Fringe, Emma McAlpine speaks to Nick Helm about being able to afford shoes, the difficult second show and this year’s saucy poster...

It’s lucky that Nick Helm has no trace of his noisy stage persona on the phone today or it could turn into a deafening interview. Known for his amusingly-bad one-liners and gravelly-voiced shouting (“This is happening, this is the act – get on board!”), he once provoked one of the funniest crowd reactions I’ve ever seen at a comedy gig – a confused middle-aged woman putting her hands over her ears and politely requesting: “Please – can you stop yelling at us?”. Helm is far from yelling today. In fact, his voice is so soft, I even have to ask him to repeat himself a few times. Perhaps he’s resting it for Edinburgh.

Last year’s Fringe Festival was a huge success for Helm; his debut solo show Keep Hold of the Gold received glowing reviews from the critics and went on to enjoy a sell-out run in the West End. He appeared on Russell Howard’s Good News and was nominated for ‘Best Show’ at the Leicester Comedy Festival this year. At the time, he had no idea it would be such a hit. “It was a big shock. We didn’t know what we had until we got to The Tron, the previews were difficult and at no point did they come together even when we did the technical run the day before we started. Then after a couple of days it clicked.”

This year however, the pressure is on: “When no one gave a shit about me – it was fine because I could do anything I wanted – but now I have to live up to expectations. That said; last year was all new stuff I’d written especially for the show, it wasn’t stuff I’d been performing on the circuit for years. Everyone talks about the difficult second album syndrome but I write a new show every year, which eases the pressure a little bit. Still, last year did amazing things for my career, I went on Russell Howard, I can afford shoes now... so I really want to be able to live up to that.”

Called Dare to Dream, Helm’s new show is “as much about dreams as Keep Hold of the Gold was about holding onto gold.” What you can expect however, is some of the same elements that made last year’s show such a hit – comedy songs, poetry, volume and a bit of audience interaction. “The stuff that comes last is always the audience. You have to make sure you have solid material first and then the interactive stuff can be fashioned around it. If you don’t have the right audience, you’ll always have the material. 

“This year I know what I'm doing and who I am on stage. I want the show to hit the same marks as last year, without repeating the formula exactly. The challenge is to come up with something interesting and different, while keeping the people happy who are coming to see me off the back of last year’s show.”

Judging from his poster this year, which sees a nude, angelic Helm flying towards the sun, he won’t be holding back. “Yeah, I’m pleased with the poster. Last year I was standing in front of a volcano and someone questioned that I'd photoshopped it – which was the pettiest criticism ever. I was standing in front of a volcano – of course it was photoshopped!”

Although he took his first solo show there in 2010, Helm has been performing at the Fringe since his late teens and hasn't tired of if yet: “I went up and did plays like Romeo and Juliet with my school. I also did a sketch show with Rob Scott (my guitarist) in 2001. I love Edinburgh. Lots of comedians talk about how much they hate doing it but I've always loved it.”

So what does his normal festival routine consist of? “I’m ashamed to say that last year I went to Brookes Bar every night and I felt quite dirty by the end of the month. It's like a school holiday though, you see people you only normally get to see when you’re gigging. In Edinburgh, everyone's there and you can hang out and worry about your shows together, which is really nice.”

This year, he'll be living with non-performing friends, taking it in turns to cook for each other and trying to avoid too much comedy chat. “Comedy is obsessive and because you're always trying to come up with the next joke, you can't switch your mind off, so it's quite nice to be around people who can just tell you to shut up.”

He pauses, before adding: “Comedy does takes over your life but I don't see that as a bad thing...I love it!”

Nick Helm: Dare to Dream is at the Edinburgh Pleasance Courtyard from 3rd-29th August.

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Emma